Seattle
by Thn0715
Summary: The team heads to Seattle to catch a killer, but this case winds up being much more personal than they could have expected. As always, I don't own Criminal Minds or its characters.
1. Lucky's Bar, 2:00 AM

**A/N: Hello Friends! This is my second story based on the wonderful characters of Criminal Minds. I hope you enjoy. Just to let you know, most of these chapters will be pretty short, but hopefully they will still get the point across. Please let me know what you think! If you like it...great! If you hate it...please tell me why! I really want to know. And again, a special thanks to my lovely CM Message Board family who encouraged me to post this story here. And especially to FX for giving me the idea behind this little adventure! You guys are awesome! I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters...sadly.**

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Hotch sat at the corner table in the bar with his cell phone in his hand. There was only one person he could call right now, but he didn't know if he should considering the late hour. _She'll understand_, he thought. _Maybe you won't wake him up_. Finally, he swallowed his pride and dialed her number.

"Hello?" came the groggy voice on the other end.

"Hi, Haley."

"Aaron? It's two o'clock in the morning."

"Yeah, I know. I just…I…uh…"

"Are you alright?"

"Uh…No. Not really." He took a deep breath. "Haley, I need a favor."

With concern in her voice she asked what she already knew.

"Aaron," she hesitated. "Are you drunk?"

"Ahh…yeah. Pretty much." He hesitated, too. "I'm sorry for calling you, especially so late, but I couldn't think of anyone else to call. I didn't wake up Jack, did I?"

"No. He's still asleep. Where are you?"

"I'm at Lucky's."

"I'll be there in 20 minutes."

"What about Jack?"

"My sister's here. She'll watch him. Just…don't do anything until I get there."

"Thanks."

Hotch hung up the phone and downed the final shot of whatever bottle of dark alcohol he'd been drinking all night. Now he couldn't even remember which it was. Scotch, probably. Or maybe it was Bourbon. Could be Brandy. Whatever. He stared at the empty bottle, searching for answers which he knew were not there. He ran his hand through his hair and laid his head on the table.

As promised, 20 minutes later Haley arrived at Lucky's. Hotch had started on the coffee already, but he still looked terrible. She was instantly concerned for him. She'd known him since he was 17, was married to him for more than 15 years and she'd never seen him in this state. She sat next to him but didn't say anything. She could see the torment in his eyes. Finally, she broke the silence.

"Aaron, talk to me."

"I should have seen it coming," he said. "I should have seen it two years ago, but I didn't."

He was on the edge of tears.

"What are you talking about?" She was thoroughly puzzled now.

"I should have known."

He was very drunk, and he wasn't making any sense. She knew something must have happened on the last case.

"What happened in Seattle?"

He put his head in his hands. Haley still cared very deeply for him, though their marriage hadn't lasted. She still hated to see him hurting. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Aaron, please look at me."

He looked up.

"What happened in Seattle?"


	2. Four Days Earlier

**A/N: Once again, special thanks to FX (aka Auraya-of-the-White) for the plot bunny that eventually became this story. I hope you all enjoy!**

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_Four Days Earlier…_

It was late in the day and the team was getting ready to leave when JJ emerged from her office, case file in hand, and knocked on Hotch's door.

"We've got one," she said grimly.

Hotch recognized that tone and looked at her with concern.

"I've got an uneasy feeling about this one."

"Already?" he asked.

"Yeah."

They left his office together and met the others in the conference room.

"Sorry guys, I know it's late," JJ began. "Seattle PD has three bodies. All shot three times, one to the groin, one to the chest, and one between the eyes, all within the last two months."

"Ouch," commented Prentiss. "Definitely seems personal."

"Most likely," replied JJ. "All three were registered sex offenders, the last one did some time for rape."

"So we're dealing with a vigilante," stated Hotch.

"Most likely female," added Reid.

"Yeah," said Morgan. "I don't know too many guys who would use that particular shot." They all knew which shot he meant.

Hotch got down to business.

"Garcia, first thing in the morning start by looking deeper into the victims, if they did time and where, their specific offenses, see if there's any overlap with anyone who may have pressed charges against them or visited them."

"Consider it done, sir," Garcia said.

"Also," added Rossi, " Check for any similarities between their crimes or their victims."

Garcia nodded.

"JJ, tell Seattle PD we'll be there tomorrow morning," Hotch said. "Everybody try to get some rest, wheels up at 7:00 am."

The team departed with their case files. Rossi stopped in the doorway when he realized Hotch had stalled.

"Hey," he said. "You okay?"

Hotch stared at the screen for a moment.

"Yeah," he answered, rather unconvincingly.

"Take your own advice, Hotch," Rossi said. "Get some rest."

"Right."


	3. Case Files

As promised, they arrived in Seattle before 10:00 am the next morning. Detective Rhoades, the Seattle detective who had originally contacted JJ, awaited their arrival and escorted the team to the conference room he had set up for them at the precinct. After some brief introductions they dove into their case. Morgan and Reid went to the prisons where the victims served their time. Rossi and Prentiss went to the crime scenes. Hotch and JJ stayed at the precinct.

"It would be extremely rare for someone to start killing this efficiently," Hotch said. "This was an execution. It takes time to work up to something like this."

"You think there are more victims?" JJ asked.

"But not necessarily murders."

Hotch got the detective's attention.

"We'd like to look at any open cases you may have involving attacks against registered sex offenders."

"Looking for anything specific?" Rhoades asked.

"This type of crime involves some build up," Hotch answered. "Probably starting with an assault of some kind, escalating into battery, possibly even kidnapping or some form of torture before finally murder."

"We want to see if we can establish a pattern," JJ added. "Possibly even a timeline. It will give us a better idea of what we're looking for."

"You got it," the detective said. On his way out he stopped in the doorway. "In case I didn't mention it earlier, thank you for taking this case."

He returned a few minutes later with two boxes of files.

"That's a lot of open cases," JJ said.

"Yeah."

"Ok," said Hotch. "Let's divide these up between male and female assailants. Look at the females first, look for any similarities between the accusations or anything that may seem excessively violent."

They hadn't made it through the sorting when the detective returned again.

"We have another body."


	4. Another Victim

**A/N: Just wanted to say thanks to those of you who have reviewed this story! You guys are awesome! I hope you enjoy the rest!**

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Morgan and Reid were already at the new crime scene when they arrived.

"What have we got," Hotch asked.

"Kenneth Reynolds, 22 years old. Shot the same as the others," Reid answered.

Hotch shook his head.

"He's just a kid." JJ said, looking down at the baby faced, dark haired young man. She echoed exactly what Hotch was thinking. He looked younger than his 22 years.

"No witnesses?"

"Not that we've found," said Morgan. "How is it that this kid is shot three times in broad daylight in an alley surrounded by businesses, and nobody sees or hears anything?"

"This isn't the greatest area of town," replied the detective. "People keep their heads down around here."

Rossi and Prentiss arrived.

"What did you get from the other crime scenes?"

"Not much," answered Rossi.

"Whoever this is, she knows what she's doing," added Prentiss. "No shell casings were recovered at any of the scenes. No prints or tracks left at the scenes, either. Everything was wiped clean."

"What about the prisons?" Hotch asked. "Anything there?"

"None of the same names appear on the visitor logs. All their crimes were different, all of varying degrees. The only overlap so far is they're on the sex offender registry."

They left the crime scene and went back to the station to compare notes.

"She's getting bolder," began Reid. "The first two shootings were at the victims' homes where they lived alone, so no possibility of someone walking in on her attack. The third was killed behind a run down strip mall, more open but still not much likelihood of witnesses, but the fourth in an alley surrounded by businesses that are up and running. There was more likelihood of someone hearing shots fired and looking out a window."

"She also clearly knows how to cover her tracks," added Prentiss. "That suggests some knowledge or training in law enforcement, maybe even a former cop who handled sex crimes."

"And we know that the severity of their prior crimes doesn't matter to her," said Hotch. "She's taking their names straight off the registry. The fact that they're on that registry seems to be enough. Not to mention she's spiraling. The first two victims were three weeks apart, the third a week and a half later, and now the fourth just four days later. If we don't figure this out soon, there's going to be a lot more bodies."

Morgan's phone rang.

"Go ahead Garcia. I've got you on speaker."

"I've got some info on your kid, Kenneth Reynolds. He was 22, a part time student at Washington State, worked full time to support his young family, married a year ago with a baby on the way. His widow's name is Jessica, they lived just outside of Seattle."

"Thanks, baby girl," said Morgan, and he hung up.

The team gave their profile to the other officers. White female, 25-35, possibly a victim of a sex crime at a young age, serving up vigilante justice. They were met with the usual gruff when they mentioned their Unsub may have been a former cop. They regrouped in the conference room.

"I'm sorry about that," said Det. Rhoades.

"We're used to it," said JJ. "Cops don't like it when you tell them one of their own could be a serial killer. We don't like it either, but it's a very real possibility."

The detective nodded in agreement.

It had been a very long day and the team was exhausted. They decided to call it a night.


	5. The Case Gets Personal

**A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry I've kept you waiting for the next update. Sadly, I had to go out of town for a funeral. But I'm back now! And the updates should be coming quickly from now until the end. I hope you're all still enjoying the story. Special thanks to Brummie 10, Sparkletasia (Sparks), Livingandthriving (Stars), Auraya-of-the-White (FX), Jeannieann, and SignedSealedWritten for your reviews! Ok, I'll stop talking now. Here ya go...**

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The next two days were about as productive as the first. They went over all the crime scenes again. They continued to go through the open case files Rhoades had supplied them. Garcia kept digging from her office at Quantico. Still nothing. The team was getting restless and frustrated.

And then, a little before three in the afternoon on the third day, a call came in to the tip line that changed everything.

The caller reported a domestic disturbance next door, figuring with all that was happening that it was better to be safe than sorry. She saw a white female fitting the description she'd heard on the news enter the house and she could hear her arguing with the young man who lived there. She'd never seen the woman before, but she knew the young man next door was single and lived alone.

The team wasted no time. They loaded into their SUV's and sped to the address not 5 miles from the precinct. Apparently the woman heard the sirens and ran out the back door. Hotch, Morgan and Prentiss gave chase while Reid, JJ and Rossi went inside. Her intended victim was still alive. Luckily he'd seen the gun and tried to run. The bullet hit him in the thigh instead of where it was intended.

Hotch, Morgan and Prentiss chased the woman into the alley where she unexpectedly ran into a dead end. With weapons drawn, they approached her.

"Put down the gun and put your hands behind your head!" yelled Hotch.

She put the gun down very slowly and followed his instructions.

"Turn around!" he yelled.

She hesitated for a second, taking a deep breath, then very slowly turned to face him.

Hotch lowered his gun to his side. He couldn't breathe. He looked back at Morgan, who was equally dumbfounded and had also lowered his weapon. Only Prentiss was still holding her weapon ready and seemed to be in control. But she could tell by their reactions that this had just gotten very personal.

Morgan started to walk forward, but Hotch stopped him. This was something he had to do himself. He walked very slowly to the woman. He stopped in front of her and looked her in the eye. She looked back at him, almost sorry it was him who found her. He hung his head and stepped behind her, cuffed her hands behind her back and quietly read her her rights.

He escorted her to the waiting police cruiser. Prentiss couldn't be more confused by the pained expression on his face as they walked past her without so much as a glance. When the cruiser pulled away Hotch looked back at Morgan, hung his head, and slowly made his way back to the SUV. Morgan and Prentiss followed.

"Morgan, what is going on?" Prentiss asked. "Who was that?"

Morgan didn't answer. The team saw them returning and knew immediately that something was very wrong. Hotch didn't even look up. He walked straight to the SUV, got in on the driver's side, put his hands on the wheel, and laid his head on his hands. JJ, Reid and Rossi watched him, then looked back at Morgan, waiting for an explanation.

"Did you get her?" Reid asked.

Morgan nodded.

"Then what's wrong?" JJ asked. "What happened?"

Morgan took a deep breath and looked at them with pain in his eyes.

"It was Elle Greenaway."


	6. Lucky's Bar, 2:45 AM

**A/N: Hi everyone! You have no idea how glad I am that I didn't give away too much in the earlier chapters that might ruin my surprise! Again, special thanks to Auraya-of-the-White for the idea! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed/alerted/favorited this story. You guys are awesome! ****I know this chapter is uber-short, but I wanted to periodically get Haley's reactions to both hearing this story and seeing how hard it was for Hotch to tell this story. I wanted to show the emotional toll that discovering one of his former agents had become a killer has taken on him. Even though it's short, I hope this all came across. Don't worry...the confrontation is coming!**

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Haley's jaw hit the floor when she heard him say that name.

"Aaron!" she exclaimed. "Elle Greenaway?"

He nodded, but didn't look at her.

"Oh my God," she said. "I can't believe it."

Haley put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry."

"I should have seen something like this happening," he said. "I mean I knew the shooting she was involved in two years ago wasn't self-defense. The man she killed was a rapist about to go free on a technicality. There was nothing questionable about that shooting to me, but I couldn't prove it. I should have kept tabs on her after she resigned. I knew she would spiral…I knew that. I could have prevented this."

He was still so numb from the alcohol he didn't even feel the tear that slid down his cheek.

"Aaron, this isn't your fault," Haley said, trying to comfort him. "You know that, right? How could you have possibly known she'd go this far?"

He just shook his head.

"Did she say anything at the station?"


	7. Face To Face

**A/N: Again, thank you very much to all who have reviewed/alerted/favorited this story. All are very much appreciated! I know the last chapter was insanely short, so hopefully this one will make up for it. Hope you enjoy!**

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When the team returned to the station Elle had already been brought into an interrogation room. They stood together, watching her from the other side of the glass. Hotch hadn't said a word since her arrest. He looked as if the wind had been completely taken out of his sails. JJ and Reid were seeing her for the first time, and although Morgan had told them she was the unsub, it didn't seem real until this moment.

"I can't believe this," said JJ, mostly to herself. "This doesn't make sense."

"We knew she was troubled, but I never dreamed she'd take it to this extreme," said Reid.

"Hotch," Rossi said, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Maybe you should let Prentiss and I do this."

"Yeah," Prentiss agreed, the concern seeping through her voice. "Since we don't know her. You guys are too close to this."

Hotch nodded in agreement, still not saying a word.

The four remaining team members watched as Rossi and Prentiss walked into the interrogation room.

"I'm Agent Rossi, this is Agent Prentiss."

"I know who you are," said Elle. "I want to talk to Hotch."

"No," said Prentiss. "You get to talk to us."

"I'm not surprised you'd try to protect the team," said Elle. "I wanted to protect them too. I was really hoping it wouldn't be them that caught up to me."

"What happened, Elle?" asked Rossi.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know, but I want to see Hotch."

"No."

But to their dismay, the door opened and Hotch entered. He stoically took a seat across from Elle and looked her in the eye. Doing that was a lot harder than expected for both of them.

"Do we get to talk alone?"

"No," Hotch said. "They stay."

They stared at each other, not knowing what to say. After several uncomfortable minutes, Hotch broke the silence.

"Elle, why wouldn't you come to me? If you knew you this was where you were headed, why wouldn't you let me help you?"

She chuckled. "What could you have done, Hotch, huh? I haven't been your responsibility for a long time now."

"I could have at least tried before you resorted to murder."

"Before I resulted to murder?" she responded, almost sarcastically. "So now you don't call what happened two years ago murder?"

Hotch didn't respond.

"I worked sex crimes for a long time before I joined the BAU, remember? I couldn't stand seeing these guys walking the streets after what they'd done. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do something before more women got hurt."

"So you just decided they all had to die? You expect us to believe that?"

"Come on, Hotch," she said. "I'm sure you've profiled the hell out of me by now."

"Elle," Hotch shook his head.

"Sorry."

He was getting agitated. "Did you even bother to look into their crimes, or did you just work your way straight down the list?"

"If they are on that list it must be for a good reason," she replied. The lack of concern in her voice was chilling.

"Really?"

"Really."

"So you don't know anything about your last victim, Kenneth Reynolds? How he wound up on that list?"

Elle just looked at him.

"His only crime was having consensual sex with his underage girlfriend, Jessica, three years ago. Her father came home early from work and walked in on them. He was 19, she was 16, and her father had him charged with statutory rape, against his daughter's wishes, and somehow he won."

His voice grew angrier.

"The day Jessica turned 18 she moved out of her father's house, moved in with Kenneth and less than a year later they were married." He took a deep breath to keep his anger in check before continuing. "So you just made a happily married 19-year-old girl a widow. And assured the child she's carrying will never know its father. But according to you, that crime was worthy of the death penalty."

By the look on her face she hadn't looked into her victim's crimes at all. Hotch shook his head and got up to leave. He stopped at the door and looked back at her.

"If you had just come to me, told me you were in trouble, I might have been able to help you. I can't help you now."

Hotch walked out the door, past Morgan, JJ and Reid, and out the side door leading to the alley. The three of them stared at each other, hardly believing the scene they had just witnessed. How could the cold-hearted woman sitting in the interrogation room be the same woman who helped them put away so many killers? How could she have changed so drastically in such a short period of time?

Twenty minutes later JJ came outside looking for Hotch. She found him sitting on a bench down the street. He was staring out into nothing, lost in his own thoughts, and didn't react when she sat next to him.

"She signed a full confession," JJ informed him.

He nodded and looked down.

"I don't know how to process this one, JJ," Hotch said.

"None of us do," JJ answered.

After a few moments sitting in silence, they got up together and went back into the precinct to help the others pack up.


	8. Lucky's Bar, 3:30 AM

**A/N: Well, friends, here is the end of another journey. So glad you've all decided to travel along with me. This has been a blast! I hope you've had fun reading it. It was definitely fun to write. Once again, a very special thanks to Auraya-of-the-White (FX) for the main idea for this story. Without your idea, this story never would have been written. And thank you to all who have reviewed/alerted/favorited my work. I feel very honored. So without further adieu... here is the end of "Seattle".**

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"She signed a confession just like that?" Haley asked.

"She gave up everything," he answered. "Rossi and Prentiss didn't have to interrogate her at all. They just handed her a legal pad and she wrote everything down. There were two attacks before the first murder. She said after the shooting two years ago that she was never the same. It got to her, but she refused help; thought it was a sign of weakness or something. I don't know. She started watching the people on the list, tracking them. One day she witnessed one of them attack someone. That attack did it. She started taking it upon herself to "clean up the streets" as she put it. I still can't wrap my head around it."

Lucky came over to the table.

"Hotch, sorry to break this up, but I really need to close up now."

Hotch looked at the clock on the wall. It was 3:30 am. The bar closed an hour ago.

"I'm sorry, Lucky," Hotch said, rubbing his eyes. "I didn't realize it was so late."

"No problem. I knew you needed some time. It's good to see you again, Haley."

"You too, Lucky," she said. "I'll get him home safe, don't worry."

"Oh yeah," Lucky said, reaching into his pocket. "Here are his keys."

"Thanks. Goodnight."

They left the bar and Haley drove him back to his apartment. They sat in the car for a few minutes.

"You gonna be okay?" Haley asked.

"Eventually," he answered. "I'll get Dave to pick me up in the morning."

He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I drug you out in the middle of the night and unloaded all this on you."

Haley just looked at him.

"I just figured I'd freaked out the team enough this week. I didn't want them to see me like this."

"Aaron," she said, "just because we're divorced doesn't mean I don't still care about you. I do. You can still talk to me. I hope you know that."

"Thanks."

"But can we aim for _before_ midnight next time?" she joked.

Hotch chuckled. "Yeah. Sorry about that. Give Jack a kiss for me."

"I will. You sure you're alright?"

"I will be."

"Ok. Get some rest."

He got out of the car and watched her drive away. Then he went inside. He only had two hours to get whatever rest his head would allow him. He opted for more coffee instead. Maybe he'd sober up by morning. Of course, he'd have to tell Rossi why his car was still parked at Lucky's Bar when he picked him up in the morning, but maybe the rest of the team wouldn't notice the hangover. He laughed out loud at that thought. A room full of profilers wouldn't notice their boss was hung over…yeah right! That would take a lot more coffee.

_**THE END**_


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